Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave
by Grykon
Summary: Life following Team Scorpion reforming looked a little normal then Katharine got a call about problems at a research facility. You may want to read "Head Space (for rent)" as this story follows after it. I do not claim ownership of the characters contained herein or related to the premise Scorpion TV show. This is completely unofficial and the story idea is solely mine. AU 35.002
1. Chapter 1

Walter stood shaving; his thoughts were all over the place. Three days ago he had awoken from his 'coma'. He had tried but he hadn't been able to reconnect to those aspects of himself he talked with while in it. But then he hadn't tried too hard, his thoughts were more on the present. His parents being in the US presented a perfect opportunity. He implored them to stay a few days and with a rushed application (thanks to Homeland) he and Paige had secured a marriage license and today was going to be their day to tie the knot. As his thoughts had strayed his hand began shaking and so he had to rein them in so he could finish without cutting himself.

Toby was enjoying a quiet moment with Happy while she held a sleeping Sasha on their bed. Sasha had instantly come out of her shell with them almost as if she had simply been waiting on them to show up in her life. Her effect on Happy had been miraculous, her temper had relaxed, she could still get pretty mad, but it took a lot more to get her there.

"Happy," he said softly, "I've been thinking. Here we are getting ready to start our family, but we're doing it divided."

Happy looked at him like he had lost it, "What are you talking about Fungus?"

"Our last names, Curtis, Quinn-Curtis, how can we really be a family like that?" He asked.

Happy sighed, "I told you Doc, I'm not changing my last name to Curtis, you want to change yours to Quinn?"

"Well, that isn't a terrible idea, but I had a different one in mind. Why don't we change our last names to Quintis?" He told her.

She slowly turned her head towards him, "Have you slipped a gear Doc?" Her inflections told him he was definitely on unstable ground.

He raised a hand, "Think about it for a moment, we're combining our families and we're adopting this precious child. What could be more central to that then us solidifying our name?" He stressed 'our' very heavily.

She regarded him for a few moments giving it a little thought; it wasn't terrible, had some merit and while she knew she never wanted to be known by a man's name, this could provide a happy median.

Toby could see she was thinking it over and so he decided to leave it alone for now and just let her consider it for as long as she needed.

Paige stood before her mirror checking the fit of her wedding dress. Having just bought it yesterday, there really was no way for alterations but she was pleasantly surprised it appeared to not need much and what it could use she didn't really care about.

She heard a knock on her door, "Paige dear, you just received a registered package." Louise said from the other side.

"Thanks Mom, I'll be right there." She slipped on her heals and opened the door.

Ralph was standing there, "You look beautiful Mom."

She smiled at Ralph, "Thank you sweetie, you look so handsome, you ready for your part in this?" To think five years ago she wouldn't have believed that he would ever communicate with her like this. She was so thankful for the day Walter had crossed her path.

He nodded, "I was surprised you asked, I figured you'd ask Cabe."

"I'd considered it for a moment, but he's not the most important man in my life, that's you, so if someone is going to give me to another, it has to be you," she kissed his cheek.

Louise smiled at her with a slight tear in her eyes, "You look so beautiful dear." She told her as she handed over the package.

Paige smiled at her soon to be mother in law, "Thank you Mom, were you this nervous when you married Dad?"

"I almost threw up I was so nervous dear," Louise told her.

Paige smiled at Louise as she opened the package only to have the smile wiped off in shock as she found thirty thousand dollars inside. "What the hell," she said softly.

"Paige?" Louise asked concerned.

Paige stared back at her and slowly opened the package so she could look inside, Louise gasped in shock. Paige saw a letter inside so she pulled it out leaving the money undisturbed.

"Dear Paige, I know I haven't been the best mother, I've always been involved in something shady and I wish I could be there today but here is something to help cover any costs of the wedding and honeymoon. It's clean, I promise, well I did use a false identity to invest the money, but this was fairly made on the stock market I promise. I love you and Ralph so much and I am grateful you and Walter finally came to your senses about each other. Get Ralph something nice for his birthday please."

Paige looked at Louise, "My Mother," she explained.

"Goodness, is your Mother well off dear?" She asked.

Paige kind of shook her head, "Comfortable I guess would be the word for it. But what am I going to do with this now? I can't just leave it lying around and I don't want to carry it with me."

Ralph spoke up, "You could call Grandpa Cabe, no one is going to mess with him if he has it."

Paige smiled at Ralph, "That's a great idea, would you mind grabbing my phone and calling to see if he can come over right away if they are ready? Don't mention the money, I'll tell him when he gets here." Paige went back into her bedroom to finish with her makeup.

Sly was waiting on Florence in her lab, he'd been spending so much time with her since they'd had their heart to heart a week ago. He heard her heels on the stairs and looked up to see her putting in an earring, his heart skipped a beat. She looked like a real angel in a black trimmed gold dress. She stopped at the bottom struggling with the hook of the earring.

"Flo-Florence, you are so beautiful he said nervously, "would you like some assistance," Sly asked her while holding out his hand.

She smiled and handed the back of the earring to him and half turned and tilted her head to afford him the best view. His hand shook just a tad as he carefully held the front and slipped the back onto the earring. As his hands lowered she turned back and looked up in his face. She reached up and brushed that one lock of hair that always seemed to tumble down his face when it grew a certain length. "Thank you," she said as she kissed him.

He offered her his arm as they stepped out of her lab and began walking around the outside of the building to get to the Garage. "Maybe we should talk to Walter and the landlord about putting a door between our two sides to make getting together a little easier." Sly suggested.

Florence shook her head, "There's only one person I want from your side coming over and I don't want to make it easier for Toby." She informed him.

Toby had finished putting on his monkey suit and sat awaiting the ladies. He began to think they should have started a half hour earlier. He started to raise his voice to call out to them when he heard the bedroom door open. He looked back and saw Sasha come out; she had her hair done into a curl that came around her neck and over her left shoulder. The green dress they had gotten her was perfect and he smiled broadly and held his arms out and she giggled and ran to him. As he picked her up, "Hey beautiful, everyone is going to be so jealous I get to show up with the two prettiest women."

Sasha kissed him, "Thank you Daddy." He kept being amazed at the progress she was making in such a short time period. So amazing he thought. He noticed that she was wearing the kids work boots that Happy had gotten her yesterday while they picked out the gown.

Happy came out in her turquoise dress and work boots of course, Toby stared at her and growled. Happy smiled and Sasha giggled. Toby looked at Sasha, "See, the two prettiest women are with me." Sasha hugged him tightly.

Cabe whistled loudly as he looked at the money in the package and then read the note. "I know right? What do you think Cabe?" Paige asked.

Cabe shook his head, "Well if you want, I can hold it and see if I can run a trace on it and see if any of it comes up as stolen."

"Ugh, just what I don't need today," she told him. "I guess; if you don't mind doing that tomorrow?"

Cabe nodded, "Well we better get going if we're going to get you married today kid."

Paige nodded her head and they left her bedroom and joined the others in the front room. After a last moment check of the apartment they all left and went down and got into Cabe's SUV.

Ray was at the Garage and being his normal irritating self but Walter barely noticed as he continued to think of what he wanted to say for his vows. He'd mentally rewritten them a few dozen times since he got up today alone. Sly finally went up and guided Ray away.

The Garage certainly looked like there was a wedding about to happen. Katharine Cooper had made arrangements and had a team go in and decorated it earlier that morning. She sat talking with Happy and Sasha. From the report she got when she found out who Happy and Toby were adopting she thought for sure that the report got mixed up with someone else.

Toby came in the Garage, "Hey guys, their here."

There was a small partition that was placed inside separating the entrance area from the rest of the Garage so Paige could enter without Walter seeing her before the music played.

Sean and Louise came in first and they hurried up to Walter and hugged him, congratulating him again then took their seats. Cabe and Allie came around the partition next and he kissed her as she took her seat and he made his way to Walter's side as Toby sat down next to Happy and their daughter. He kind of ticked his head and got Walter's attention and mouthed "She's HAWT man!" Walter let out a nervous breath.

Happy looked at Toby, "What did you just say to Walt?"

Toby smiled and leaned over, "I told him she looked HAWT! Ow, my ear," he exclaimed as she flicked his ear.

"Not cool Fungus." She told him and looked back and saw Ralph give a thumbs up and she pushed the button on the beat box and 'Here Comes the Bride' began playing.

Everyone stood, and Walter's mouth went dry as he looked back. Ralph came around the partition leading his Mom in that stately walk. Walter tried his best to swallow, Toby had been right, she was HAWT he missed the look Toby shot him but Happy didn't as she nailed his ribs.

Paige stepped up next to Florence as Ralph shook Walter's hand then joined Allie. Ray gestured and everyone sat down. Paige and Walter joined hands, "Family, before we begin, who gives this woman?" Ray asked.

Ralph stood up, "I do."

Ray looked at Paige and Walter, "Did you want to say anything or just a boiler plate?"

"Walter, I've loved you for almost as long as I've known you, I've seen you in your most vulnerable and at your most heroic and I know as long as we're honest with each other and communicate, there is nothing we can't overcome." Paige said.

"Paige, I've thought over my words so many times since you said you'd marry me and nothing ever sounded right. And I know now it's because you weren't with me. You connect me to everything around me, you complete me and I promise to always do my best and to lean on you in all things."

Ray smiled, "Polly."

"Paige!" Everyone shouted at once.

Ray nodded, "Paige, do you take Walter to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and hold, in sickness and health, for better or worse forsaking all others until death do you part?"

Paige looked deep into Walter's eyes, "I do."

"Brosef, do you take Paige to be your delectable and lawfully wedded wife? To have and hold, in sickness and health, for better or worse forsaking all others until death do you part?"

With all his love clearly in his eyes, "I do," Walter replied.

Ray looked out over the small gathering, "If there is anyone here who can show just cause why these two should not be joined in Holy Matrimony, let them speak now or forever hold their peace."

After a couple of beats, "Rings," Ray asked. Walter held up Paige's and Paige held up Walter's. "The rings are formed as a circle as a family circles each other." Ray nodded and Paige slid the ring onto Walter's finger. "Repeat after me, with this ring I thee wed."

"With this ring I thee wed." Paige repeated nervously.

"Brosef, repeat after me, with his ring I thee wed." Ray told Walter.

"With this ring I thee wed." Walter hoarsely said.

Ray smiled, "Then, by the power vested in me by the computer at the local library and the state of California, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife. You may kiss your spouse." Ray finished.

Walter went in for a tender kiss but Paige pushed in and everyone whooped and clapped as she dipped him.

As everyone surrounded them and congratulated them an agent stepped in the door and gestured to Katharine. Groaning Katharine went outside with the agent.

They'd all took their place around the large table that had been set up in the kitchen and caterers came in and served lunch. Katharine walked in with a serious expression on her face. "I'm sorry guys; I need team Scorpion to join me outside for a few minutes please."

Cabe stood up first, "Katharine?" She jerked her head towards the door and he looked at his friends and nodded and mouthed "It's serious."

As they filed out the door of the Garage they saw Katharine climb into the back of her SUV and they all followed suit. Once the door closed Katharine hit a button and an almost detectable whine emitted.

"Sonic protocols," Walter asked.

Katharine nodded, "Guys I am so sorry, Homeland was just contacted by a defense contractor. One of their top researchers has gone dark. Her research facility is up by Lake Cuyamaca. The labs security system isn't responding to access requests and their best people haven't got a clue how to get in." "I hate to ask, but we need Scorpion on this. As soon as you get them in, we'll arrange transportation to get you to your honeymoon."

Cabe looked at the gang, "I knew this was going too smooth." He sighed and leaned over to Katharine, 'Can you do me a favor please? Paige's Mom sent this money to her, she claimed its honest money, but Paige is worried.'

Katharine took the package and nodded her head, 'I'll have it checked out Cabe.' She whispered.

"We'll need her IP address so we can try and get in the system." Walter told her.

"Oh, sorry, no, its air gaped. You'll have to go to the lab to try and get in." Katharine told him.


	2. Chapter 2

Katharine looked at the gang, "I really am sorry guys. Go in and get changed and gather whatever you need. We'll get you on a copter to Swartz Canyon Park where you'll meet up with a military escort who will get you to the facility. Have you all got clothes to change into here?"

Everyone nodded, "Cabe, I'm not comfortable with this plan. Every time we've had to work with the military we've encountered problems because of them." Walter told him.

Cabe looked thoughtful for a moment and then looked at Katharine, "He's right you know. How about I take a few agents with us to keep things conducive to Scorpion getting the job done?"

Katharine nodded, "They'll have to have top security clearances for this. There'll probably be some blowback from it, but you let me worry with that."

Just before they opened the door Walter looked at Katharine, "What's this researcher's name? We can do a cursory examination of her record to have a better idea about the situation."

"Her name is Dr Lana Michaels. MIT grad class of 2016," Katharine told them.

Allie was dancing with Sasha as Sean and Louise waited, worried about what could be so important it would interrupt a wedding celebration. "Look, there's Mommy Sasha!" Allie told her as Happy followed by Toby and the rest of them entered the Garage.

Sasha ran as fast as her legs would carry her and flew into Happy's arms. Cabe walked up to Allie and hugged her, "It's not good, but hopefully not a real problem but we'll probably be gone for a few hours at least. I'll call and update you as soon as I can." Cabe told her as they kissed.

"Mom, Dad, I'm sorry, we're going to have to cut this short and get ready to leave on an assignment. Hopefully it won't last long and we can meet you on the plane for the trip over to Ireland, if not, Katharine as promised to get us on a plane just as fast as the job is done." Walter told his parents.

Louise hugged him, "Be careful son, both of you she looked at Paige I don't want to live through another child's passing."

Paige's eyes teared up as she stepped in and hugged Louise. Sean shook Walter's hand, "Son, I know we've butted heads a lot. I've never understood just how intelligent you were, I just didn't know how to relate. You take care of yourself and this fine lady you've brought into the family, not to mention her darling boy."

Walter smiled, "I promise Dad," he told him as they hugged.

Sean looked at Ralph, "Ralph, you keep these two on their toes and we'll see you in Ireland soon if not on the plane okay?"

"I will Grandpa." Ralph promised him as they hugged and then turned and hugged Louise.

Happy and Toby walked over to Allie with Sasha, "Allie, can we ask a favor? Would you mind watching after Sasha while we take care of this situation for us?"

Allie was thrilled at the prospect, "Of course I wouldn't mind watching her. She's such a delight." Sasha smiled at Allie as Allie tickled her belly.

Sylvester and Florence had gone over to her lab and were changing their clothes, "Why do you suppose it is, every time things seem to be going right for us, something bad seems to come up?" Sly asked her.

Florence looked at him, "I don't really know, maybe because if the bad things happened back to back you'd get fed up and quit?" She replied with a smile on her face.

Walter and Paige stood in the bedroom in the loft holding each other. "This isn't how I envisioned this day going," Walter said, "but I'm glad we got through the wedding before the wheels came off."

Paige laughed as she hugged him a bit tighter. "Yep, that was the most important part of today. With any luck by this time tomorrow we'll be in Ireland. Oh, that reminds me, I need to thank Katharine for getting Ralph's passport expedited."

"Hey!" Cabe shouted up to the loft, "Clock's ticking."

Toby lifted his voice, "Yea, you guys can canoodle later." He said with a grin. "Ow, my funny bone." He exclaimed but laughed as he grabbed his arm and rubbed it as Happy just smiled.

Happy kissed Sasha's face for perhaps the tenth time since they'd reentered the Garage, "Sasha, Mommy and Daddy have to go to work for a little while, but Gromma Allie is going to watch you and Ralph will be with you too, okay?"

Sasha frowned as tears welled up in her eyes and Happy's heart just tanked and she hugged her tightly to her. "I know, I don't like it either but this is real important. But as soon as it's over we'll be able to spend a lot more time together. Okay?"

Sasha reluctantly nodded her head as she sniffed and reached out for Allie. Reluctantly Happy let her go to Allie and turned to Toby, "Doc, this is killing me."

Toby nodded, "I know Happy but we'll be back this evening and we'll be together." Happy sighed and hugged him tightly looking at Sasha looking sadly back at her.

Walter came bouncing down the stairs carrying his backpack and stopped at his desk to stuff his laptop and a few other things in it.

Sly walked over to Walter, "I pulled up Dr Michael's record already, I've got to tell you, I'm not very impressed, I don't see how she got her own research facility."

Walter looked at Sly and then Cabe over with Allie, "What's her specialty and class standing?" He asked.

"General theoretical physics," Sly answered, "she was eighteenth in her class."

"Odd," Walter said as he gestured for Cabe to come over.

"What's up Walt?" Cabe asked him.

"Sly looked up this researcher and her credentials are a bit weak for someone who has her own research facility." Walter told him quietly.

Cabe nodded his head, "Is this a real concern or is it piggy backing on the military aspect?"

"Real concern," Walter and Sly said in unison.

"Guys, you know me, I'm on your side and I got your back so if you are telling me something isn't right I believe you no question. How do you want to proceed?" Cabe asked.

Walter looked up to the loft, "I'd like to limit team exposure. Just you and I but I am sure that is going to be a difficult fight plus I would need Happy if the problem isn't software but mechanical. If Happy comes, there is no way to keep Toby back." He looked at Sly, "I could do the math myself, but then that would detract me from analyzing the rest of what is going on."

"Hey, we're a team, family and there is no way I am going to allow you to go into this alone." Sylvester told him sternly.

Cabe and Walter smiled, "There is a good chance we might need a chemist, if we need something specialized she will be quicker at coming up with it then we will. That leaves Paige and since we just got married I'm sure she won't stay back." Walter continued, "We'll need agents you really trust Cabe."

Cabe nodded, "Don't worry; I got just the guys for this. They'll have my six, which means they will have your six, I promise you that."

Walter walked over to Ralph, "I'm sorry buddy but we'll be on our way to Ireland soon. I love you."

Ralph smiled, "I understand, I love you." Ralph told him as he hugged him.

Walter looked at Sasha looking so sad in Allie's arms, "Can I have a kiss for luck Sasha," he asked as he bent down in front of her.

Sasha gave him a weak smile and leaned forward in Allie's arms and kissed his cheek. Walter smiled and tugged her hand as he stood up and saw Paige had come down the steps.

Everyone said one last goodbye and the team filed out the door and got into Cabe's SUV. "Okay guys while hoping this job is normal for once, let's all keep our wits about us. Once we meet up with the military escort lets leave the conversation with them up to Paige and Cabe. When we get to the facility and get inside, do not touch anything without being positive what it does. No exploring around." Walter told them specifically looking at Toby.

Toby got defensive, "Hey, what's with the eye shade?"

Sly looked at him, "With all the trouble you get into touching things, seriously?"

"You know, I think I liked old Sly a lot better, before you got a little bit of salt in you." Toby told him, he saw the look in Happy's eye and quickly hushed."

They were quickly admitted to the Air base in El Segundo and given directions to the helicopter waiting on them. Three agents stood outside the chopper talking to the pilots as they pulled up and parked.

"Gallo you old dog, how you doing man, why do you only call when you need something." One of the agents greeted him.

"Shut up Nick," Cabe laughed as they shook hands. "Rusty, Simone, it's so good to see you guys again. It has been awhile."

Cabe turned towards the gang, "Friends, this is Team Scorpion," Cabe introduced them.

"No kidding? Big fan guys, you've done some amazing and some sloppy work." Rusty laughed.

"Yea, well about that, here's the break down. The mission is hopefully quick and without incident. That said, we tend to always expect a wheel to fall off anymore, especially when the Team has to work with military. That's what we're here for. To ensure Scorpion has zero problems with the military escort to the facility we're going too." Cabe stressed the 'zero problems' heavily and all three agents nodded their heads.

"Walter, you and your team will be well protected; no one is going to mess with you on our watch, plain as that." Rusty told them and the others just nodded.

Walter shook his hand and gestured to the side and they walked away from the group as they began getting into the copter. "Rusty, as Cabe said we've had some issues in the past and I appreciate your dedication but I need to make something clear for you to pass along quietly. If things go south, first, I am expendable, that's non-negotiable. If you have to choose who to protect in this group, I'm last. Paige, Cabe, Sly, Happy, Toby and Florence are your primary concerns. In that order, is that a problem for you?"

Rusty shook his head, "I like a man who knows what's important." They shook hands again and turned and joined the others in the copter.

Paige looked at Walter, "What was that all about?"

Walter smiled and kissed her, "Making sure he understood his orders. I'm not taking chances after all the other problems we had. Remember the submarine mission? If they hadn't flexed their muscle we could have had help faster and even saved that billion dollar sub.

Paige looked at him for a moment and then nodded her head as the craft lifted off the ground and began moving off to the south east.

"Scorpion, I'm Capt Davis, my co-pilot first Lieutenant Sanchez. We've been giving priority airspace and our travel time should only be about 40 minutes. We've been given orders to wait there for your return."

"Thank you Captain," Paige told him.

Rusty looked at the other two agents and gestured and they reached into bags they had and pulled out bullet proof vests. "Director's orders guys, everyone needs to wear one, she told me to tell you it was non-negotiable." Rusty told them.

Walter was helping Paige put hers on. "You too Walter," Rusty told him.

Walter smiled, "I will as soon as Paige's is secured."

"Is this really necessary Rusty?" Paige asked him.

Nodding, "She mentioned something about Director of Homeland promising some other agents to be tried for treason if they interfered with your group. I am NOT being tried for treason Ma'am." Rusty told her.

"Simone and Nick will be behind you when we land. I'll be lead, Cabe will follow, I want you guys no more than 2 abreast. If anything happens you get behind Nick and follow Simone's orders. Her responsibility along with Cabe's is leading you out of immediate danger, Nick and I will lay down suppression fire as we retreat and rejoin the group. We don't care what is or isn't going on at that lab; you are our only concern in this. Is this understood?"

The team solemnly nodded and looked at each other. Cabe moved over next to Rusty, "Hey, what gives, why are you sidelining me?" Cabe asked.

Rusty nodded his head, but did so in the direction of Walter, "So my friend, I got my marching orders. And I plan to carry them out to the letter, besides, if things do go south, I am sure you'll have your hands full helping Simone protecting these guys."

Cabe kind of glared at Walter, but Walter just looked out the window. "Here man, leave that peashooter in its holster." Rusty tells him as he hands him an M-16 with four, thirty round mags.

Cabe took the weapon without taking his eyes off Walter; finally he bent over and whispered, "When we land, we're going to have a conversation." Walter just nodded.

Toby snuggled up with Happy and whispered, "Not sure what is going on, but Cabe is pissed at Walter."

Happy whispered back, "Maybe he forgot to get him a birthday present." She replied sarcastically.

Toby smiled in spite of the seriousness around them, "That's my girl."

The rest of the trip was uneventful but a little nervous for the gang with the high powered weapons around them.

Paige whispered to Walter, "I think Sly passed his nervousness over to me, my stomach is really upset."

Walter frown, "You never get air sick."

She shook her head, "Not air sick, been a little queasy since we got out of the SUV, but all these guns, it's definitely increased. Is there an airsick bag?"

Walter looked and saw one in a mesh net on the wall and reached over and grabbed it then gave it to Paige.

Sylvester's eyes got big seeing her taking the bag, "Oh boy."

Florence looked at him, "Sly? What's wrong?"

"Paige just got an airsick back from Walter, if she throws up, oh man, this is really upsetting." Sly said quietly to her.

Almost like that was her queue, Paige quickly opened the bag and covered her mouth and wretched into it.

Walter tried to rub her back but she just flagged him off. Cabe and the other agents kind of moved off center of Paige just in case.

Sly had his fingers in his ears and his eyes tightly shut, Florence smiled at Sly and his tender heart.

It was mostly dry heaves since she hadn't really eaten anything so far that day but she was still glad to be off the copter when it landed.

Just liked they discussed, Cabe and Rusty were in front of the group and Simone and Nick were in the back as they looked around as the engine began to whine down. "Your escort will be here in three minutes," Capt Davis yelled out his door to the group.


	3. Chapter 3

Cabe looked to Walter and jerked his head off to the side; Walter looked down as he took hold of the straps of his backpack, "Yep."

As they got about 20 feet away from the group, "Okay kid, spill, what's the big idea of benching me," Cabe asked.

Walter looked back at the group, "I'm not,"

"Bull!" Cabe almost yelled, interrupting him.

"Cabe, if you say we can trust these guys, I believe you. But if you think for one minute that I am not going to insist the man I trust the most to lead the people I love the most out of danger then you don't know me." Walter stated almost curtly.

Cabe stared hard into Walter's eyes but he neither blinked nor backed down, "Okay kid, I understand."

As they rejoined the others they saw a large troop truck coming over a hill, "Oh great, come all this way to ride in a dinosaur." Toby commented.

"Walter," Paige whispered, "What's going on? Why's Cabe out of sorts?" She asked.

Walter brushed a lock of her hair back off her face and smiled. "He thought I was trying to protect him when Rusty said he would help Simone lead us out of danger should it come up. I just told him I wanted the man I trusted the most to lead the people I love the most to safety." Paige smiled and touched his arm fondly.

Rusty looked back, "Guys, lets stay in tight formation, Simone, Nick, be ready for anything." Rusty looked right at Simone and nodded; Simone shouldered her m-16 and took out a small laser scope pistol and flipped down her sunglasses.

Sly whispered to Toby, "Do our agents seem more like military to you?"

Toby nodded, "Probably just old Marine buddies of Cabe's," he whispered back.

The truck pulled up not far from the group and 4 men got out in army fatigues. The lead man stopped a few yards away, "Team Scorpion?"

Rusty stepped forward and thrust his thumb over his shoulder, "They are; my men and I are here to protect them, Agent Rusty Evans Homeland."

"Major Charles Emery," the lead man identified himself, "I have no orders concerning an escort, you and your men will have to hang back, I've only got orders to transport 9 people. We'll keep them safe."

"Kind of you major but that's a no go." Rusty asserted. "We all go or team Scorpion is getting back on the Helo and going home, your call."

The two men stood staring at each other and Cabe finally stepped up. "Major, these men have top security clearance and Homeland's direction to be with us. You can waste time here trying to piss it out and lose, you can accept what we've said and take us to the facility or you can call your superiors to get confirmation. What do you say?"

The major continued to stare at Rusty for several minutes, "Fine, but you check your weapons into the cab."

Rusty took a half step forward, "You want a Marine's gun? Take it out of my dead fingers. You and your boys don't intimidate me and I will be damned before I allow you to endanger these kids."

The major glared at Rusty, "Fine, let's get this show on the road already."

As the major walked towards the back of the truck he whipped his hand in the air and his men all turned and got inside.

Cabe whispered to Rusty, "I see you haven't lost your charm my friend."

Rusty grinned, "Did you honestly think I would?"

Cabe just shook his head no and smiled real big.

Rusty looked back at the group, "Okay lets go. Simone, Nick enter the back first, you men next he pointed at Sly and Toby, ladies, you enter next, then Walter, Cabe and I will enter last. In the off chance someone grabs you, do not freeze, do not panic, simply let your knees buckle and fall to the ground, do not grab the person. At worst you might pull the person to the ground with you but most likely it will shock them and they will just let go of you, either way, cover your face so you don't get their blood in your eyes or other orifices." They all nodded.

Just before he turned he looked at Simone who was now holding her m-16 again and she nodded at him. As they got to the back of the truck they saw another man inside, "This is Dr Thadeus, and he's the supervisor of the researcher whose lab we're going to." The major informed them.

As they got situated in the truck the major pounded on the side and the truck started and took off. After about 30 seconds the truck slightly vibrated a bit differently, the height profile changed as the roar of the engine decreased while the truck continued to pick up speed at an impressive clip.

Happy had her head cocked and her hand against a piece of the metal frame feeling the vibrations while listening to the sounds the engine and truck were making. "Dr Thadeus, Walter O'Brien, can you tell me what Dr Michaels is researching?" Walter asked him.

"It's a pleasure meeting you Walter, names Terry, all I am authorized to tell you is she's involved in theoretical physics." Terry said while offering his hand.

Walter shook his hand, "Can you tell me how someone with such an unremarkable school life warrants her own research lab?"

Terry shook his head, "I'm sorry Walter, I'm like a case manager, the suits at Wernien ltd make all the decisions, I just go through reports and update timelines and stuff. They keep me dark better then a full eclipse."

Happy looked at the Dr, "What kind of tech is driving this beast? It clearly doesn't match the outside body and the engine doesn't match any sound profile I know of."

"It's a special design Wernien has been developing for the Army. It's a prototype, major Emery has been testing it for the last week or so. Since it can travel at greater speeds with greater safety it seemed prudent to use it for this." Terry replied

"I'd love to take a look at the engine when we get done Doc." Happy told him hopefully.

He shook his head, "I wish I could allow that, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it."

Every corner they took the truck's profile would change intuitively and change its center of gravity allowing them to maintain their speed around the corner without causing much stress on their bodies or jeopardizing their stability.

They arrived outside the research lab within a half hour of their landing. One car was parked outside the facility, "Dr Michael's car," Terry told them. "We examined the outside and tried all of our protocols to gain access but after we failed that's when Wernien reached out to Homeland to get Scorpion up here."

The truck stopped close to the parked car and turned off while everyone exited the vehicle. Walter started to walk up to the door but Rusty stopped him. He whispered, "Remember what I said about formation? We either move as a group or we break into two groups and I can escort you to the door."

Walter nodded, "Okay, I'll need Happy to examine the door and make sure there is no structural deficiencies while I try to tap into the security system, how do you suggest we proceed?" He whispered back.

Rusty looked back and gestured and Nick moved off to scout the area, "Happy, please join Walter and I, we'll go up to the door, Cabe, you and Simone keep everyone safe."

The major looked at Rusty and insultingly said, "Don't you think you're being a bit anal?"

Rusty regarded him for a second, "You know, you run a pretty good taxi service, why don't you stop while you're ahead and I won't have to lower your yelp rating. Just get back in your taxi and let us handle this."

The major's jaw set and his eyes narrowed, Rusty stepped up into his face, "Yea?"

A corporal stepped up with his gun pointed at Rusty's head. Rusty reacted instantly and almost beyond the eye's ability to witness as he spun and swung his left arm up and then down over his arms, he captured the man's arms under his left arm next to his ribs neutralizing his gun and then smashed his right fist into the side of the man's head. And he let him fall unconscious and twitching to the ground.

Cabe and Simone responded instantly raising their guns as did the remaining soldiers. Rusty held up the unconscious man's pistol, "You want to dance major?"

"Major! Stop this now," Terry shouted, "You've done your job, now stand down and don't interfere again."

Major Emery continued to stare angrily at Rusty before he whipped his hand in the air and the other soldiers lowered their weapons. Toby nervously cleared his throat, "Cabe, you want me to check that guy out?"

Cabe looked to Rusty and he just nodded so Toby moved up, "Pulse is good, a little bleeding from his ear and nose. You really pack a punch Rusty." Rusty just smiled.

"Do you guys have a first aid kit?" Toby asked and one of them ran up to the cab and came back a few moments later and handed it to him. "Thanks," Toby said as he opened it and got out a cold compress bag, smashed it and shook it up then pressed it against the side of the man's head. "Okay, I don't think he has any permanent damage so he should regain consciousness in about thirty minutes. Keep this on for twenty minutes, then remove it for twenty, if he doesn't wake up then reapply it if it's lost too much cold, get another one. Have one of the others come get me if he hasn't regained consciousness by then."

The man just nodded as he took over.

Rusty nodded to Walter and Happy and the three of them moved up to the entrance of the lab. As Walter began to hook his laptop to the interface Happy stepped up to the door and began examining the entire surface.

"Sorry about that Walter," Rusty told him, "with his attitude I figured he might try to start throwing around his weight and I wasn't about to let him think he could intimidate us."

"I might prefer non-violent resolutions Rusty, but you probably saved us a lot of headache just then, though I am almost certain it might cause you a headache later." Walter told him.

Rusty laughed, "Oh that's okay, won't be my first headache."

Happy turned around from her examination, "The integrity of the door and frame are intact, no force or damage points."

Walter nodded, "I'm just about into the system now. Terry, if you would, please come up here and enter your password."

Terry moved up to the keypad, "I'm not sure what good the password will do if it won't open the door."

"I'll be able to monitor how the system response to it and that will help guide me in attacking the problem," Walter explained, "please enter it now."

Terry pushed a 12 digit code into the box and they waited, but the system remained locked.

"That's odd; the system didn't even register that you entered a code, right or wrong." Walter said. "Are there any defensive systems we need to know about," Walter asked.

Terry shook his head, "Nothing like that on the lab." He told them.

Nick returned from his recon of the area and told Rusty that everything was clear.

Walter nodded as he began editing memory locations in the system watching the system's responses; it took perhaps another 20 minutes before the screen on the keypad changed to say 'Safe Mode'. "Okay Terry, try your password again," Walter told him.

He reentered the 12 digit code and a light on the door lit up and a lock inside could be heard to flip. He smiled at Walter, "you guys did it. Scorpion really is worthy of its reputation."

Rusty gestured to Cabe and Simone who lead the rest of Scorpion to the keypad.

Rusty and Nick moved up to the door and Nick took hold while Rusty held his weapon up. Rusty nodded and Nick pulled the door open and as Rusty moved in Nick followed keeping his gun down low until he got in and he took up a flanking position on Rusty as they scanned the room.

With no movement or sounds detected they moved in further, moving in and around the room and the various equipment pieces. Finally satisfied it was safe Rusty raised his voice, "Clear."

Walter and his team moved in with Terry and Simone. Simone stopped just inside the door and shoved a knife into the door frame so the door couldn't close and lock shut.

"Hey Terry, I didn't see any power lines outside, what's powering this place?" Happy asked.

"Well it's not really a secret tech, but a thorium generator." He replied.

Walter and Happy looked at each other, "What are you two thinking," Terry asked a little worried.

"We were on another job when a thorium generator blew up because of improper maintenance." Walter told him.

Terry shook his head, "Oh no, we haven't skipped any corners believe me. I stay on top of all maintenance cycles and requests. I'd have been canned if I had allowed that to happen."

"Just to be safe, would you show Happy where it is so she can check it out please?" Walter asked.

Rusty pointed at Happy while looking at Simone and she followed along with them as they moved over to the east wall. Terry entered his password into the keypad at the door and it unlocked giving them access to the generator.

Major Emery pulled out a sat phone and dialed a number. "Major, report," a male voice on the other end answered.

"Scorpion achieved the objective and has entered the facility," Emery answered.

"Excellent Major, take Scorpion into custody, I'll get some men up there to harvest all the data and tech in a few hours," the voice told him.

"What about Thadeus sir," the Major enquired.

"He's a fool, but a useful one though, he'll shirk back from any confrontation and when he gets back here he'll obey and go right back to work," the voice said.

"Very good sir, we'll be waiting with Scorpion captured for your team to get here." Emery told him as they both hung up.

He walked back to the back of the truck and looked at the soldier still unconscious on the ground. He pulled out a gun and screwed a silencer onto it and pointed it at the man's chest and pulled the trigger. "I can't believe those bastards killed Simons," Emery said.

The other three soldiers all nodded their heads as they readied their rifles, "We're to apprehend Scorpion, the Homeland agents are expendable, but I get the one they called Rusty, understood?" They all nodded their heads as they moved towards the door.


	4. Chapter 4

Allie, Sean, Louise and Ralph took turns trying to entertain Sasha, she'd become so sad after Happy and Toby left. She was refusing to eat, even cake and ice cream. Ralph had an idea and he excused himself and made his way up to the loft. He took out his phone and called up an app he'd developed out of Walter's tech and called Allie's phone. "Hello," Allie answered without even thinking about looking at the caller id.

"Hi Allie, it's Happy. Just checking in," Happy told her.

Allie sighed a little relief and said, "Your timing couldn't be better, Sasha is really sad right now. Can I put you on speaker and you talk with her?"

"Of course," Happy told her.

"Hey Sasha," Allie called her, "someone wants to talk to you." She pushed the speaker button, "Okay, you're on speaker."

"Hey sweetie, it's Mommy." Sasha's head came up and her eyes opened as she looked towards the phone Allie was holding and she began walking over to her, "Momma?" Sasha said.

"That's right sweetie, it's Momma." Ralph said.

Sasha's eyes teared up more, "Not Momma," she said as she lay down on the floor and cried.

Allie took the phone off speaker, "I'm sorry Happy, she doesn't think it's you."

Ralph pushed a few buttons and disabled the app, "It's me Grandma Allie, I thought maybe if she heard Happy's voice she'd be happier."

Shocked at first, Allie smiled finally, "Thanks for trying Ralph, where are you?"

"I'm up in the loft, thought that would help sell it if she didn't see me talking on a phone too." Ralph told her.

Louise walked up and picked Sasha up, "It's okay little one, Mommy and Daddy will be home just as soon as they are done working." Sasha leaned up against Louise and cried softly.

Ray walked over to Walter's desk and opened a drawer and found Walter's sock puppet that was suppose to represent Toby and he slid it on his hand. He looked over at the little girl in Louise's arms on the couch and he carefully climbed behind the couch and moved back behind where Louise sat and slowly he pushed his hand up over the back of the couch. "Hello, my name is Dr. Tobias Curtis."

Sasha looked up over Louise's shoulder at the silly sock and its hat, and she kind of smiled. "I'm a Harvard trained Dr. and Behaviorist." Sasha's smile grew more and Louise let her stand on the couch as she watched the sock puppet.

Cabe, Rusty and Nick stood back out of the way not far from the door watching the team begin to work. "This is on full auto, my finger is on the trigger, try and disarm me and someone will catch a bullet I promise you." Emery said softly to Rusty, Cabe and Nick started to react but seeing they were already covered they relaxed.

"Where's the girl," Emery asked.

"Kiss my," Rusty grunted as the third soldier kidney punched him.

The team all turned at the unexpected sound and saw Cabe and the others under the threat of the soldiers and all but Walter froze. Walter started to move towards them, "Oh yes Mr. O'Brien, please do try to be a hero, I'd love an excuse to put you down." Emery told him. Walter stopped moving once he stepped in front of Paige, "Sergeant, go check out that open door," Emery told the soldier who'd punched Rusty.

He quietly made his way over and stood waiting as Simone stepped out the door and she froze instantly seeing what was going on. He grinned wickedly, "Drop your gun," he told her.

She rolled her eyes and carefully set the butt of the gun on the floor and then tipped it over so the barrel wasn't pointing at anyone. "Now, turn towards me and kick it away." She just glared as she face him but used her heel to kick the gun back away from her.

Emery smiled evilly and kicked the back of Rusty's knee and as he went down he drove his knee into his back between his liver and kidney. Rusty groaned even louder. "Yea, you think you're a tough guy huh? Not so tough now are you?" Emery asked him. "I'm going to really enjoy what is going to happen to you shortly." Emery told him.

"Whoever is in there, get out here now," the sergeant ordered. Slowly Terry came out hands up and the sergeant gestured out into the room and he quickly walked out into the room, Happy stepped out with her hands up slowly. The sergeant grabbed her jacket and tried to force her to move faster and Happy grabbed his hand and pulled against him throwing him off balanced a bit and he moved his gun off Simone to point the gun at her when Simone who'd tensed every muscle released them, springing up into the air taking his right arm holding the gun up with her. She easily rose 3 feet off the ground and might have gone higher had she not released his arm and grabbed the back of his head and shoved his head down as she drove her knee into the man's chin shattering a number of teeth in the process. As she came back down she stripped the gun from his hands as he brought them down and in to grab his mouth, blood was coming out of his mouth as some of the jagged edges cut his tongue.

His scream caused the others to look and that was all the men needed, Rusty drove his elbow back and caught Emery in the crotch and as he bent over Rusty grabbed the gun and yanked it forward controlling the barrel direction as a few rounds were expended. The sudden action causing Emery to fall forward and Rusty slammed the butt of the gun into the back of Emery's head and you could hear his nose break and blood squirted out all over the floor. Cabe and Nick both quickly disarmed and subdued the other two men. Rusty bent down over Emery's back and got right next to his ear, "Your damn right; I am a tough guy and you hit like a 10 year old you ass." He drove his fist down hard on Emery's face. He looked up to see Cabe grinning, "Damn Cabe, I guess you haven't completely lost your skills," Rusty smiled as he teased him.

"Shut up," Cabe said as they began laughing.

Simone was standing with one foot hard on top of the sergeant's neck her hands cocked back just daring him to try something. She side glanced at Happy, "You okay girl?"

Happy nodded, "Thanks to you I am, you're a certified badass."

"Me? You're the one that put your hands on this jerk and that gave me the chance I needed," Simone laughed.

Nick came over and cuffed the sergeant as everyone turned to Terry, Terry grew scared, "Hey, don't look at me. I had no clue they were going to try something like that. We need you guys to help figure out what happened and where Dr. Michaels is."

Walter looked at Terry, "Terry I want to believe you but something isn't adding up. What do you know about this place, about what is going on?"

Terry looked pleadingly to Walter, "Walter, I swear to you I don't know. What little I do know is completely classified, its high treason for me to reveal it to unauthorized personnel. My title is a joke, I'm no Dr other then I do have a Phd, but that is in Egyptology, but after the Nevada Historical Museum closed their Egyptian wing for renovations they laid me off, I had to work and Wernien offered me this desk job. This morning they called me in and said the lab went dark, they gave me the access code, Emery and his men picked me up and we came out here about noon. When we couldn't get in they said they were going to reach out to you guys. Then we got orders to come pick you up. I swear that's all I know."

Walter went back to his laptop and accessed the security system from inside, "This is showing that at 7:53 a.m. an authorized pass code registered to Dr Michaels was entered and at 7:54 another code was entered that put the system in a lock down mode without the door being opened. Then at 7:58 a.m. the pass code you entered to get us in was entered and ignored, it was entered again at 11:58 a.m. and then after we first got here all three times it was ignored.

Rusty looked at Cabe, "Just what is it with you guys and military?"

Cabe nodded, "Believe me, I ask myself that all the time now." They both began laughing.

Paige looked to Walter, "Walter? What is it?" Walter's hands were in his pockets as he looked at the ground.

"Walter, I'm going to call Katharine and advise her as to what has happened," Cabe told him before stepping outside.

"I'm inclined to believe Terry but something is really wrong here. Sly, jump on the military network, work with Nick try and verify that these men are who they seem to be." Walter said. Sly nodded and began to walk across the room to another desk.

Toby was walking with him on his way to the man who Simone had attacked. As something under the mat they were crossing clicked, instantly both men froze.

Nick saw them both stop moving and just stood still, Nick began moving forward, "Guys? What's wrong," he asked.

Everyone else turned to look and saw Toby and Sly with their eyes tightly closed, "Toby? Sly? What's going on guys?" Walter asked.

Sly was shaking his head back and forth as Toby spoke up, "Something under this mat just made a click noise Walter."

Rusty and Happy moved up quickly and joining Nick they all knelt down. The mat was some how adhered to the floor. Nick looked up at Rusty, "You hear that?" Rusty just nodded.

Happy had her eyes closed, "Walter, I hear a high voltage relay under this section of flooring." She looked at the floor behind her and pulled out her pocket tool and opened it and jabbed a blade down into the seam and started working it about. Rusty turned and gave her a hand and working together they forced it under the edge of the plate and pried it up a little. Rusty grabbed the edge and yanked hard and the plate came off and flew back a few feet. Happy turned on her flash light and ducked her head into the hole and looked back under the floor towards Toby and Sly. Her eyes opened wide, "WALTER!" she yelled.

Walter turned around as he heard a buzzing of energy behind him, "It's powering up something, are you sure there are no defensive or offensive systems Terry?" Walter said pointing at him as he moved quickly over to Happy and took the flashlight and looked under the flooring.

"W-Walter, if there are, I was not told about them. The only defensive thing I know of is in the safe. If the safe detects attempts to breach it, it will release an organic solution that will spray over the entire contents and dissolve it before you can get the door open." Terry explained from the side of the room.

"Okay, I've told Katharine, I-what the hell, Rusty, Walter?" Cabe exclaimed as he reentered the lab.

Walter looked up and then back under the floor with panic on his face he quickly ran back up to the workstation and began typing on his keyboard trying to access the system. "Walter, I'm hearing more relays engaging!" Happy said alarmed. Walter's fingers were flying almost too fast for the interface he was working with, if it wasn't for the keyboard buffer it would have been beeping errors at his speed.

Terry turned and looked back into the generator room, "Guys, the generator output has quadrupled."

He thought he was making progress, he thought for sure just a few more seconds and he'd be able to shut down whatever it was when within the room 4 upright bars spaced around the mat began to vibrate and energy crackled around the tops of them, Walter looked out over the scene, his mind calculating, thinking, finally "Guys, get out of there now!" Walter shouted.

"What if it's bomb," Sly fretted.

"We don't want to die," Toby said.

"Sly, Toby it isn't a bomb, but you have got to get out of there, now!" Walter screamed.

Cabe yelled, "Son, move your ass out of there now!"

"Screw this," Happy said as she jumped up, prepared to run out to them and Rusty reacted with that same speed they were all shocked by outside and caught Happy and the two of them tumbled out of the area. Nick launched himself as hard as he could and knocked both men down scrambling upon top of them trying to protect their spines and heads as a large white flash and crackling energy was emitted by the 4 bars.

Their ears ringing, each of them dazed and confused, but as their vision slowly returned to normal and they looked, Sly, Toby and Nick were gone.

"NOOooo," Happy screamed. Walter seemed to hear her but it was so muffled, he looked at her as she jumped up and started to run, almost like in slow motion, out to where they were last standing, but Simone grabbed her arm as Rusty struggled to clear his head and then he got up and stood up in between her and the mat. She struggled against Simone, trying desperately to break free but it was soon apparent that she didn't have the strength it would take.

She dropped to her knees and began crying, Simone dropped down next to her and put her arms around her and hugged her tightly. Paige's head was aching and she was still seeing spots and could barely hear, but she could see Happy crying she was trying to put everything she had just experienced into context but was failing and on autopilot she just had to make her way out to Happy, as she got there she knelt beside her and wrapped her arms around her as well.

Florence stood there, her mind blindly trying to comprehend what her eyes told her, she rubbed her eyes, and shook her head a few times and then her head was shaking as she was screaming "SYLVESTER!" Cabe with tears in his eyes came up behind her and pulled her into his arms and hugged her. She turned into this embrace and clung to him, Cabe's heart was breaking, one of his oldest friends was gone, two of his kids gone, his knees buckled and they both knelt down on the floor.

**Greetings,**

**I wanted to let you know of a slight change. This morning I suddenly realized that I had done a disservice to a character in 'Head Space (for rent)', I've since edited the story, it's just a tiny edit but to me it really meant a lot about the character. So if you enjoyed Chapter 9 you might go back to see the change it's during the meeting of Sasha for the character of Janice. Thank you for taking your time to read my stories!**

**Sincerely,**

**Tim**


	5. Chapter 5

As Ralph came down the stairs from the loft he heard Sasha laughing and he looked over at the couch and saw Ray using the sock puppet of Toby, 'Smart thinking Ray,' he thought as he continued walking down the stairs when that gave him another idea. He walked over to Toby's desk and pulled out his laptop and opened it. After a moment he had hacked past the log in screen and did a search. "Grandma Allie, would you come here for a moment?"

Allie smiling at Sasha walked over to Ralph, "What's up kiddo," she inquired.

"The sock puppet made me think of something else," and he pulled up the video clip Toby had saved of Happy performing her music video in the Pink Flamingo dress.

"Oh my," Allie's shock was clearly visible.

"If she gets unhappy again, we can try playing this for her," Ralph said simply.

Allie gave him a hug, "Ralph, you're really something else."

"Cabe," Rusty exclaimed as he rushed past where the others were comforting Happy and jumped over the hand rail next to where Cabe and Florence where kneeling. He helped lay Cabe back as Florence scrambled around to check his pause. Walter was fixated on the monitors and his own laptop, his eyes darting back and forth between them all.

Rusty grabbed a roll cart that was nearby and lifted Cabe's legs a few inches and pulled the cart so his feet could rest on the bottom shelf a few inches off the ground. "Rusty, could you get me the first aid kit the soldier gave Toby and see if Toby's medical bag is in the truck?" Rusty nodded and sprinted out the door.

Happy was clinging to both Simone and Paige, her grief, what would she tell Sasha? The more she thought about that, the more her grief was being replaced with anger.

Paige tried her com several times, "Sylvester, Toby, can you hear me?"

Rusty rushed back in sitting both items down next to Cabe, "You guys aren't going to believe it, these bastards murdered their own man." Florence gasped, freezing as she had opened the first aid kit. Simone turned to look at Rusty and Happy's anger hit its boiling point and she sprung off the floor, flying across the room towards Terry.

Terry gasped and threw his hands up defensively almost crying as Happy grabbed his jacket and thrust him bodily up against the wall behind him, "What happened to my husband," she screamed and threw a haymaker with her right hand, his jaw nearly broke from the impact, "Where's my friend," she screamed, followed by left into his stomach, he doubled over and she yanked him back up, "What am I going to tell my daughter", she screamed and slammed her left forearm into his throat trapping his head and neck to the wall. "Where's my HUSBAND," she screamed at him, "What's happened to him and my best friend?" Happy's face was extremely dark and the look in her eyes had an almost evil light to them. "What am I going to tell our daughter?!"

Terry was thrashing and gurgling barely able to breathe, his face had gone deep purple almost instantly and a white froth was forming around his mouth, "qu- -ment" he barely whispered. Happy's eyes opened wide as her arms fell to her side, she felt like she had just been slapped hard and she staggered backwards. Simone and Paige reached her and tried to help her but she pushed them off and fell to her knees.

"Cabe, chew this aspirin and swallow please." Florence told him as she put on Toby's stethoscope and listened to his heart while checking his pulse and then his pupils.

Rusty knelt on one knee next to Cabe, "Come on Cabe, we need you man. You can lollygag later."

Cabe smiled weakly up at Rusty, "Just need to catch my breath for a moment."

"Cabe, I-I think you're okay, I don't think you had a heart attack or stroke, but you rest here a bit longer and get your strength back." Florence told him and handed him her bottle of water. He patted her hand and took the bottle.

Paige looked up at Walter; he was still at his laptop and going over it and the data on the other monitors, his lips moving as he kept trying to comprehend what he was seeing. "Walter, what happened? Where's Sly and Toby?" "Walter," she exclaimed.

Walter jerked his head over to look at her, "What?"

She got up and walked over to him, "What happened to Sly and Toby?"

Walter shook his head, "Not sure." He turned back to the screens.

Terry was still coughing and gasping for air. Happy looked up at Walter, "He said it was quantum entanglement." She told him.

Walter froze and looked at her, "Impossible, no one is even remotely close to protocols for that."

Terry staggered to his feet and holding his throat, "No," he said hoarsely, "that's what Dr Michaels was developing here."

Walter looked at him, "Absurd, she doesn't have the skills to achieve such a breakthrough."

Terry was staggering around giving Happy a wide berth, "No, Wernier forged her transcripts. They found her when she was 12 at a science fair she won. They brought her and her family in, gave them a lavish life style and had the best private tutors for her. The tutors filled out her school work maintaining a C average while in reality she was a shooting star in quantum mechanics. At 16 her tutors couldn't keep up with where she was let alone with where she was going. One of her tutors and I socialize sometimes, he told me all about it."

Walter's head looked up, "That's it, Happy, go out and check the truck for a GPS system, see where it's been today. Happy. Happy?"

Paige touched his hand, "Walter, she's in shock, I'll go check it."

Walter looked at her and nodded his head as he looked back at Happy.

Paige turned to head outside; Rusty looked up at Simone, "Simone." She looked up at him and he pointed to Paige and she nodded and got up and followed her out.

Walter slowly walked over to Happy and knelt down in front of her, "Happy, it's going to be okay. Sasha is going to see both of her parents soon, I promise you, I promise you."

Cabe tried to get up but Rusty pushed against his shoulder, "You heard the Dr, you rest for a bit Cabe."

Cabe half smiled, "You're enjoying this." Rusty just smiled. "What did you say about their other man?"

Rusty looked at Emery still unconscious, "Emery or one of his lackeys shot him point blank, he's dead."

"Sweet Lord in Heaven," Cabe said as he closed his eyes.

Paige and Simone came walking back in a few minutes later, "Walter, it looks like the truck was here around 8 a.m. and then left, traveling about 6 miles from here where it was parked for about a half hour and then left and went down to Wernien headquarters then came back and then it picked us up before coming back here again."

Walter's head popped up, "That's it, wherever they went 6 miles from here, that's where Dr Michaels is." Walter looked over at Rusty, "Rusty, someone needs to go check for her. If she is alive, she can hopefully tell us what happened and where Sly, Toby and Nick are."

Cabe sat up, "What do you mean where they are?" He asked Walter.

Walter looked at him, "This facility is where Dr Michaels is trying to develop quantum entanglement protocols."

"Kid," Cabe said a little testily.

Terry looked over at Cabe, "Think Star Trek's teleporters. It's a way of moving people and objects from one place to another instantly without traversing the physical distance."

Cabe whistled, "That would have far reaching implications. Imagine you had the location, you could use this tech to send a bomb and there would be no heads up, just boom."

Rusty looked at Cabe and then Simone, "Okay Walter, I'll go check this other place out and see if the Dr is there."

Cabe grabbed his hand, "Not so fast, you take Simone with you. We don't do anything solo, I'll be okay to watch out here."

Rusty looked into Cabe's eyes and then nodded at his friend and looked to Simone and the two of them headed out the door. Cabe slowly pulled his feet off the cart and sat up, "You think they are still alive Walt?"

Walter stood up and looked at him, "Depending on her progress, yes."

Cabe looked up toward the ceiling for a moment, "As annoying as the Doc is, that's something to hope on then, thank You Lord."

Simone climbed into the driver's seat and started the transport as Rusty climbed into the passenger's. He punched up the GPS and found the location from earlier that morning and initiated a return trip. Simone checked the directions after backing the truck around and then pulled out onto the state highway.

"How many missions did we go on that we could have used transport like this one?" Rusty asked Simone.

She laughed, "All of them; never felt a military vehicle travel like a Mercedes."

It was a pretty short trip, but they stopped a few hundred yards short and then hiked the rest of the distance on foot. The trees thinned and finally opened into a large area with a small cabin in the middle. There were no lights on in the cabin.

"If anyone is in there watching, they'll see us long before we even cross half the distance." Rusty commented.

"Maybe the other side has few windows? I could circle around and come from it that way in any case it might increase the odds one of us gets there." Simone suggested.

"Could increase the odds of one of us being caught too, no, we'll go from this side and move as quick as we can. You follow straight behind me." Rusty told her.

Rusty began a count down, "Three, Two, One," and they both took off, twenty yards, no lights or sounds, forty yards, wall was still quiet, sixty yards and they reached the outside wall of the cabin. Rusty gestured to the window behind them and he pointed at the one in front of them. Simone nodded her head and stepped back and carefully looked in as Rusty did the same at the other. They both shook their heads and he gestured to go around back. Carefully they made their way to the corner of the cabin and Simone peered around but didn't see anyone. She turned the corner and Rusty followed and she stopped coming to the back door.

She opened the screen door and tested the door knob. She pulled out a small black pouch from inside her jacket pocket and used some tools from inside to pick the lock. Rusty took the door knob as Simone readied her rifle, 'Go' he mouthed as he turned the knob and thrust the door open.

"Toby, Sly, its Paige, can you hear me?" She asked again for the fifth time.

Happy looked at her, "It's no good Paige, whatever that energy was, it's killed the batteries in the coms. If they are alive and okay, they couldn't answer even if they wanted to."

Paige nodded her head as she looked up at Walter still going over the all the system data.

The cabin was quiet as they moved through the kitchen and into the front living area where they found a woman unconscious and bound to a chair. Simone checked for a pulse, and then gave Rusty a thumbs up. They went ahead and doubled checked the rest of the rooms but found no one else there. The moved back and cut the ropes binding her off and then one on each side they lifted her up and quickly moved back out the kitchen door.

It was a much longer journey back to the transport having to carry Dr Michaels. They laid her down in the back and Simone got in with her as Rusty jumped into the driver's seat and started the truck taking off back to the research lab.

Paige walked over to check on Cabe as he sat in a chair holding his rifle pointed at the door. She asked, "Cabe, are you okay?"

Cabe smiled back at Paige as her hand rested on his shoulder, "I am kid, thanks for asking though."

"Anything I can do for you?" She asked.

Cabe shook his head, "Just take care of our boy," he said.

Paige bent over and kissed Cabe's cheek and started to walk over to Walter when they heard the truck pull back up outside. She turned to go outside but Cabe waved her back and so they waited. "Cabe it's us," they heard Rusty say. And then Simone and Rusty entered carrying Dr Michaels between them.

Florence moved over as they sat her in a chair and Florence picked up Toby's bag and then examined her. It was clear she'd been drugged but all vitals were good and strong. "I don't know what they gave her, but her vitals are good."

"Perhaps there is something else in the truck then, we didn't see anything at the cabin to suggest a drug." Simone stated as she looked at Rusty, he just nodded and so she left to go check.

Rusty's head turned as he heard a groan and he smiled as he walked over to where Emery and his men were secured. "So glad you could join us Emery, now, before I beat you senseless again, while don't you tell me who you are working for." Rusty said as he squatted down to look Emery in the eyes.

"Go to hell," Emery responded.

Rusty threw a right cross against his cheek, "Language, there are ladies present." Rusty said as he grinned at him.

Emery just glared at him as blood oozed from the cut on his cheek.

"So then, we'll come back to that question in a moment, what did you drug the good Dr with?" Rusty asked, "But, watch your language when you answer."

Emery glared at him.

"Found it," Simone announced as she came back in. She handed the bag to Florence and she opened it and checked the bottle.

"I think I can make something to counter the effects," Florence told them as she picked up Toby's bag and moved over to a work area. With Simone's help she concocted a horrible stench that had everyone holding their noses. The other soldiers woke up from the stench from 40 feet away. She moved over closer to Dr Michaels and she began to cough and Simone held her head so as much of the noxious fumes could enter her system and she began fighting Simone trying to get away from the smell. Simone let go as Dr Michael's hands came up to her nose pinching it shut and Florence moved to take the mixture outside but Simone stopped her and took it herself.


	6. Chapter 6

Florence tried to examine Dr Michaels's eyes but fighting off the effects of the drug and the fumes Florence used to wake her up made that almost impossible. "Dr Michaels, its okay, you're safe now; I'm just trying to examine you." Florence told her.

"Wha? Who? Where am I?" Dr Michaels finally spoke.

"My name is Florence, I'm part of team Scorpion, Wernien brought us up here to try and find out what happened to you. You were found at a cabin not far from here and brought back to your research facility."

"No, I was abducted by Major Emery and his men, they drugged me, I initiated security protocols to protect my lab." Dr Michaels said still trying to make sense out of what had happened.

"Major Emery and his men have been apprehended and are in secure custody right now Dr. But we need your help as soon as you can recover. Three of our people were lost when your protocols activated." Florence explained.

Dr Michaels's head shot up as she stared at Florence, "No! It's not ready for living subjects. The target protocols aren't working right, the cargo can materialize up to 1 mile in any direction or a combination of directions from the target location!"

Happy jumped up, "What did you say? That's my husband, the father of my daughter and my best friend you are talking about!" She began walking towards Florence and Dr Michaels.

Terry cringed but jumped in front of her, "Out of my way unless you want some more." Happy stared at Terry.

"N-No, you are not going to harm her, she didn't do anything wrong." Terry said as he stood his ground.

Sean looked at his watch, "Louise, dear, we're going to have to get ready to leave for the airport what with TSA screening times, we'll barely have an hour to catch our flight."

Louise reluctantly looked back from Sasha, who was now sleeping on the couch, to her husband. She knew he was right but it had been two years since they'd been together and she was seriously missing her Walter and Sylvester and now her daughter Paige. She walked back to Sean and took his hand, "Sean, couldn't we just spend a few more days please? We could call Tobin; he could get the fellows to take care of the farm a few more days. Please Sean?"

Sean hugged her tightly, "If that's what you want dear, of course we can." He always had a hard time telling her no. "I'll call the airline and see if we can push the tickets for a few days, you can call Tobin and ask him." He grinned at her.

Louise smiled at her husband and kissed him, "Thank you dear."

Happy continued to stare at Terry but as much as he flinched, his feet were firmly planted, he wasn't going anywhere. Happy sighed and walked over to the door of the generator room.

"Dr Michaels, I'm Walter O'Brien of Scorpion." Walter introduced himself, "What exactly is the problem with the target protocols?"

Dr Michaels looked at him puzzled for a moment and shook her head, "I'm sorry, I'm having problems focusing; how-how did you guys get into my lab?"

Walter sat down in a chair across from her, "I was able to put your security system into a safe mode and then Terry's pass code gave us access to the facility."

Dr Michaels looked around, "Terry?"

"I'm here Lana," Terry said as he moved up next to Walter.

Dr Michaels reached out and hugged Terry and pulled back, "Wha-What happened to your face," she asked as her fingers touched his swollen jaw tenderly.

Terry smiled, "Nothing important, a misunderstanding is all. I'm so glad you're okay."

Dr Michaels looked back at Walter, "I'm not sure what is wrong with the protocols. Everything I have done to try and correct them usually makes it worse. By comparison forcing something to pierce the quantum barrier is far easier than getting it to emerge where you want it. I don't know if it's possible or maybe it's just beyond me this time. I've worked so long and hard at this. I'm so tired of it anymore."

"I understand, can you tell us where the exit coordinates are supposed to be? Hopefully we can find our friends not too far from there." Walter said.

Dr Michaels nodded her head, "One mile north of my cabin, but I got to warn you, I'm not too confident you'll like what you find. My test containers have materialized deep in the earth, high above the ground, just all over. I'm really sorry."

"Rusty," Walter looked over at him, "You think a couple of us could go check it out?"

Rusty nodded, "Yea, Simone and I can take you out there no problem, Cabe can hold the fort.

"I'm coming too." Happy stated.

"Walter, you guys be careful," Paige told him as she kissed him.

Walter smiled, "We will, we'll be back before you know it."

"Happy, you want to drive this beast," Simone asked her.

Happy just shook her head and climbed into the back. Simone looked at Rusty and then Walter, "Why don't you boys take the cab, let me go sit with Happy." Simone told them and followed Happy without waiting on their reply.

Rusty took the driver's seat and Walter got into the passenger's. Simone settled in as the truck got out onto the highway.

"Hey girl," Simone said to Happy, "you okay?"

Happy shook her head, "I think I broke my hand when I slugged Terry's jaw." She held out her right hand.

Simone whistled, "That's a broken hand alright. Why didn't you say anything in the lab?"

Happy shrugged, "Didn't seem relevant at the time."

Simone started laughing and slowly Happy did too.

Sylvester hurt, that much he knew, he also knew he could hear birds and the grass he was on was still damp with dew. He raised his head and cried out at the pain he felt in his neck. "S-Sl-Sly, don't move man, give me a moment, let me get my bearings." Toby told him.

Toby gingerly pushed up off the ground a little and rolled over. "Ow, my body," he exclaimed, "That hurt like hell." He opened his eyes and looked around. They were outside in the woods. He looked to his right and saw Sly laying face down in the dirt. "Hold on buddy, I'm coming. Tell the Dr where it hurts." Toby turned back over and slowly crawled the short distance to Sly.

"My neck, mostly," Sly all but whimpered.

Toby placed a hand on Sly's lower back and felt his way up his spine to his skull. "Okay Sly, the good news is your back isn't broken, bad news, you've got a disc that is a little out of place. Let me see what I can find to stabilize it, give me a moment and do your best not to turn your head or move."

"What happened to us," Sly asked.

Toby shook his head, "No clue, unless Mike Tyson came in and thrashed us while we weren't looking." He saw a branch lying next to Sly and he picked it up and measured a small section and broke it then placed it next to Sly's neck and used it to measure off several other pieces. He pulled off his jacket then took off his shirt and then put the jacket back on.

He tore the shirt around the waist into several long strips. He tied the pieces he broke off together using the strips and then used the rest of the shirt to pad one side of the branch pieces and carefully slid one end under Sly's neck and brought it up and tied the two ends together behind his head.

Toby told him, "There, not pretty, but it should help stabilize your neck, just do your best not to move your head, okay?"

"I don't even want to move my body." Sly told him, but he slowly pushed up and then sat on his hip and on over onto his butt. "Where are we and how did we get here?" He asked.

"No clue, what do you remember?" Toby asked.

"I remember Nick knocking us down and a flash of light and feeling all tingly," his eyes got wide, "Beam me up Scotty."

Toby looked at him, "Let me check your pupils, you might have brain damage," he told him.

Sly started to shake his head and the pain stopped him instantly, "No, don't you see? We were just moved through space; Dr Michaels is developing quantum entanglement protocols. Something like the transporters on Star Trek." He said excitedly.

"Help" a soft voice called out from a bit back into the woods. Sly and Toby turned and looked the direction it came from. "Help" they heard again. They took a few steps and saw the backside of a bush was smashed down and they saw Nick lying on the ground.

"Nick," they both exclaimed. And moved quickly to him, he was clutching at his stomach and they saw a lot of blood on his clothes. "What happened Nick," Toby asked him.

Nick pointed up, "fell hard on that branch."

Toby carefully opened his jacket and then pulled up his shirt. "That's a nasty cut Nick," he looked at Sly, "We need to move him out into the clearing more so I can get a better look."

"That branch is twenty three feet four inches above the ground, to cause that wound, he had to have hit the branch at twenty miles per hour which means he had to have fallen almost forty feet to start with." Sly said out loud.

"Well that would certainly explain why we feel so lousy then. I know you hit at least one branch, wonder how many I hit on the way down." Toby said.

They both took a shoulder of Nick's jacket and gently lifted him just enough to get his head off the ground and then moved him in slow pulls until they finally had him out from under the trees where there was more light. Toby moved back down beside Nick as Sly looked around trying to see anything that might give him an idea of where they were.

"Nick, the good thing is the damage seems contained to your skin and some abdominal muscle damage. From what I can tell there is no damage to your intestines." Toby told him.

Nicked nodded his head, "Well that's something at any rate."

"I just wish I had something to suture this with," Toby told him.

Nick looked down to this left leg, and Toby reached down and pulled his pants leg up and found a large survival knife. He pulled it out and unscrewed the end of the handle and inside he found several items of which there were several needles and thread for wounds. "That's convenient, any booze? I could use a good belt right now." Toby teased him.

Nick kind of laughed but grimaced. "Don't worry, I'm a Harvard trained Dr, I know what I'm doing," Toby told him. No pain killer so this isn't going to tickle man."

"You think it will hurt more than it does right now?" Nick asked him.

Toby smiled, "If it was just your skin, probably not. But muscles aren't as use to constant irritation like skin is; it can hurt a lot more."

"It'll be okay Doc, I've got this." Nick told him.

As Toby prepared to stitch his wound he glanced over his left shoulder. "Sly, is that Echinacea purpurea over there?"

Sly looked where Toby was looking, "Yes, it is, why?"

"Echinacea purpurea is a natural generic disinfectant, we could gather some of it, grind them to get the oils out and then I could coat his wound first, help reduce any infection." Toby told him as he stood up, he stopped and looked down, "Now, don't go anywhere Nick, I'll be right back."

Nick laughed and the pain caused him to spit. Sly walked over with Toby and helped collect a number of the flowers.

"I think I am hearing periodic traffic noise south of us Toby, you want me to go look?" Sly asked him.

Nick shook his head before Toby could respond, "Absolutely not! I'm still responsible for you two. Cabe will kick my ass if something happens to you. I don't even want to think about what Rusty would do. We don't know if Emery called for any help or anything, I can't risk you getting caught by unfriendlies."

"Nick, we really should see if we can find some help, it may be too far for you to walk, even after Toby gets you stitched up." Sly told him.

Nick shook his head, "No, as soon as Toby's got me patched up, the three of us will walk out to the road. End of discussion."

"Hey Nick, hand me one of your magazines." Toby asked.

Nick pointed back into the trees, "I think they fell out back there."

"Oh course they did," Toby rolled his eyes but got back up and walked back in and found them and brought them back out. He knelt down on the ground and used the survival knife butt to grind the plants and then dipped his fingers in the fluid and transferred it into Nick's wound.

They'd left the transport at the cabin and then walked around the cabin and saw a small tract that led off into the woods to the north. Rusty took the lead followed by Walter then Happy and finally Simone

"This is really an amazing discovery," Walter was saying. "It will revolutionize the transportation industry if Dr Michaels can figure out what is wrong with her target protocols. And space, no more dangerous rockets, no long space voyage. We could put man on Mars in the matter of minutes; re-supply a space station or Mars habitat. It's really remarkable."

"Walt," Happy said, "I know this seems really great and potentially, I agree with you, but until I get Toby and Sly back and they get Nick back, I hate this thing."

Walter's brow furrowed for a moment and then he realized, his friends could have been seriously hurt or even killed by it. "I'm sorry Happy; I didn't consider what our current circumstance actually meant."

Rusty held up his hand and they all stopped. They could hear foot steps, struggling, coming their way. And just then Sly, Toby appeared with Nick, his arms slung over their shoulders as the three of them made their way down the path about a half foot too narrow for them.

"Fungus," Happy screamed and ran around Walter and Rusty, running full tilt towards the group. Toby let go of Nick's arm and caught Happy up in a huge bear hug, pulling her bodily off the ground as she cried into his shoulder and then they were kissing.

Sly and Nick moved past them and Simone came up and took up Nick's other side as Walter took Sly's hand, "I'm pleased to see you survived." Walter simply said and then took sly's place helping Nick to stand.


	7. Chapter 7

"Hello Mr. O'Brien, I'm Melinda Blair. I'm sorry to tell you it appears we've had a scheduling mistake and have overbooked your flight. I see you are traveling with your family. Is there anyway I could entice you to modify your plans to fly to Ireland? I'm authorized to compensate you for your inconvenience. I can upgrade all your seats to business class on our 3:40 p.m. Friday flight and offer you four tickets to be used whenever you want."

Sean was completely flummoxed, "Ah, yes, well, sure that sounds like a fair deal to me Ms. Blair."

"Oh, thank you so much Mr. O'Brien, do you want me to send the tickets to you or will you pick them up at the terminal?" Melinda asked.

"Well to be safe, I think we'll pick them up, I got to ask, on the four tickets, if we want to bring someone else with us, can we use them on this flight too?" Sean asked.

"Absolutely Mr. O'Brien, I can set that up right now if you like and I can flag all of these as priority so that you won't get bumped or asked to surrender your seat if somehow the flight becomes overbooked as well." Melinda told him.

Sean smiled, "That sounds perfect Ms. Blair, thank you for your assistance in this."

"It's my pleasure sir; most times people get pretty irate when we have to tell them the flight is overbooked, I'm just so glad you called to check in by phone and we could avoid all the issues. Can you hold just a moment so I can get you the confirmation code?"

Sean looked up from Walter's desk a large grin on his face. "What is it dear?" Louise asked.

Pointing at the phone, "Before I could tell them I needed to change our ticket departures they transferred me to a Ms. Blair, she told me the flight was overbooked and offered us upgraded seats on their Friday flight. I was worried we'd have to pay some kind of penalty for it. Then she even gave us four more tickets to use."

Louise smiled, "That's wonderful and we'll have tickets to come visit in the future."

"Well, actually, I thought maybe we could use them now." Sean told her.

Louise looked puzzled at her husband, "I thought we could offer them to Happy and Toby and the wee one and Allie, if they'd like to come with the others of course."

Louise smiled, "Sounds perfect to me dear," she said as she kissed him.

"How did you guys find us?" Sly asked.

"Rusty and Simone found Dr Michaels, Florence revived her and she was able to tell us where the center of the target protocols was." Walter explained.

"Well don't let Walter whitewash it too much, he's the one that figured out how to find where they stashed her." Rusty told him. "Looks like you guys aren't too worse for wear, how was the trip?" Rusty asked.

"Painful though probably not as painful as Nick's trip, the tree limbs broke our fall for the most part, all together about a sixty foot fall." Sly replied.

"Oh, is that why you have that brace around your neck Sly?" Walter asked.

Sly nodded and instantly regretted it, "Yes, Toby said I have a disc a bit out of place."

Toby and Happy were ignoring the others as they made their way back to the truck, she just kept smiling up at him as they walked with their arms around each other, "I was so worried Fungus, I couldn't imagine how I was going to tell Sasha you were gone."

Toby kissed her head, "Perish the thought, but would you like to tell me why your hand is swollen?"

"Nope," Was her quick and short reply.

Rusty climbed into the back of the truck along with Simone, Walter and Sly helped to push Nick up as they allowed him to pull against them. Once everyone was settled, Rusty and Walter got into the cab and drove back to the research lab.

"Sylvester," Florence shouted and ran over and hugged Sly tightly, kissing his face, she hurt his neck, but he didn't complain.

The rest of the group made their way into the lab and Paige welcomed them back and then hugged Walter. Rusty looked at Cabe and then Emery and back to Cabe, "Issue?" He asked as he saw that they had gagged Emery and his soldiers.

Cabe shook his head, "Not really, they got lippy shortly after you left and I got sick of it, so we muzzled them."

Rusty laughed when they heard a phone ringing coming from Emery

Rusty walked over and reached into Emery's jacket and pulled out his sat phone. Rusty took a few steps away and hit 'talk', "Emery." Rusty said.

"Emery," a male voice said, "what's the status on Scorpion? Have you got them secured?"

"Yes sir, their escort was a pain." Rusty replied.

"I don't care about them, dispatch them. My team will be arriving shortly to copy the data and specs of everything. Scorpion will be accused of theft and treason while my shell company 'develops' competing technology. What's the status of Dr. Michaels?" The voice asked.

Rusty looked at Cabe and he just shrugged. "Michaels is secure, still unconscious from the shot back at the cabin."

"Good but go get her and bring her back to the lab, when the team gets there they'll have a drug to wipe her mind and Scorpion will take the fall." The voice said before hanging up.

Cabe whistled, "Now who the hell was that?"

Dr Michaels spoke up, "That sounded like Evan Wilcox, President of Wernier ltd."

"Why would he want to steal all of this only to bring it about through another company?" Terry asked.

"Government R&D, they'd paid huge amounts of money for this tech, so once it's developed they can use it relatively cheap. But, if another company develops it first, then they can corner the market and charge a fortune for people or the government to use the tech," Walter said.

"Great and we get blamed and spend the rest of our lives in prison." Paige said.

"Yea," Cabe said, "but the good news is, we've captured Emery and team. Plus I already notified Katharine about Emery and his men attacking us and she's got more agents on their way."

They heard a vehicle pull up outside the lab. Rusty looked at Nick, "You stay focused on Emery and his boys, Scorpion, Michaels, Terry I want you to take shelter in the generator room, Cabe, you stand just inside the generator room but you'll help Nick watch Emery along with mine and Simone's back."

Walter and the gang moved as quietly and with as much speed as they could into the generator room. Cabe took his place half sheltered by the doorway with his gun trained on Emery.

"Hey Emery, is it safe to enter?" A voice called out.

"Yea, we're clear in here," Rusty replied.

Three men entered and froze when the saw Emery and his men tied up and the guns point at them from over the equipment.

"Welcome gentlemen, put your hands on your head and kneel down." Simone told them as she moved forward.

It only took a few minutes to secure the men, Simone and Rusty went through all their pockets and bags. They found several laptops and storage mediums and ketamine. Rusty held it up to the gang, "I'm going to guess this was for you Dr Michaels."

Lana stepped up and looked at it and then turned to face Emery, "How could you be a part of this? You not only betrayed me but your country." She slapped him hard across his face.

Emery just glared at her.

Cabe's phone started ringing, "Agent Gallo," he answered.

"Agent Gallo, this is Marcus, Katharine Cooper dispatched my team to rendezvous with you and Scorpion to provide back up, we should be on site in about ten minutes."

"Excellent, we've apprehended seven men for treason; we'll be awaiting your arrival." Cabe told him.

Rusty turned and looked at Emery, "I think it's time you and I have a private conversation." He grabbed Emery's arm and yanked him up off the floor and lead him into the generator room closing the door behind them. Nick stepped in front of the door and everyone figured why.

Cabe hit his speed dial, "Katharine, I need to update you as to what is going on." He told her as he walked outside.

"Dr Michaels," Walter said, "I'm very impressed with what you have done, I'd like to offer my assistance in trying to figure out the targeting protocols if you'd like."

"Walter, call me Lana, a few weeks ago, I'd have said no in my arrogance and while I am inclined to say yes, it would have to be cleared through my employer. Whoever that is of course, since Evan is a traitor to our country, might take a while to get it all sorted."

Walter nodded, "Understood, give us a call when you find out," he handed her a business card.

"Dr Michaels," Cabe said as he walked back in, "I've got a federal prosecutor on the line with me; Katharine Cooper at Homeland wants to get your sworn testimony about the events of today on the record so Homeland can get an arrest order for Wilcox before we ever get to the helicopter. Besides, it will help to protect you from any nefarious actions."

Lana nodded her head and she walked outside with Cabe.

"How's your hand?" Toby asked Happy as they boarded the helicopter.

"It'll be okay," she answered.

"I couldn't help noticing Terry's jaw, especially since I examined it." He told her with a grin.

Happy looked at him, "You know I have a perfectly functioning left hand to hurt you with right?"

Toby held up his hands with a smile.

The copter landed back at the Air base in El Segundo.

"Rusty, Simone, Nick, guys, you really came through for me. I'm really grateful." Cabe told them as they shook hands.

"Hey, we're family, if any of us need the others, we're there regardless. Besides, it was kind of fun getting dirty again. It's been way too long since I had even a mediocre fight. What do you think the chances are of the Fed nailing Wilcox?" Rusty asked.

Cabe shook his head, "Hard to tell for sure. But I am sure he's a oily snake, he'll probably slither his way out of anything. Hopefully Werneir's board will at least remove him from the company."

Nick was getting on the gurney of the ambulance that was waiting on them to land. "Hey Nick," Sly said as the paramedics got him ready to go on the ambulance.

Nick looked at the paramedics, "Give us just a moment would you?" The paramedics stepped off to the side, "What's up Sylvester?"

"I just wanted to say thank you." Sly said.

Nicked kind of laughed; "Whatever for?"

"Hey, you endangered yourself to try and protect Toby and me. That means a lot and I am very grateful." Sly told him.

Nick smiled, "Anytime Sylvester, it was a privilege working alongside of you." He reached out his hand and Sly shook it as Nick gestured to the paramedics, "Take care Sylvester, if you need help have Cabe contact us."

Sly nodded as he released his hand as they picked up the gurney and slid it inside. Simone started to get in with them and the paramedic started to say something, but after looking in her eyes he chose to remain silent.

Rusty walked up to Walter, "Walter, it was a pleasure to assist you guys."

Walter smiled, "Only a friend of Cabe's could say it was a pleasure putting up with the nonsense that seems to follow us." He reached out his hand.

Rusty laughed and took his hand. "Take care Walter, of yourself and of Scorpion. You guys are doing this country and world a favor."

Rusty turned to leave, "Hey Rusty," Happy spoke up, "tell Simone I said she's still a badass."

Rusty turned back and laughed, "That she is Happy, your no slouch yourself," he said as he gestured punching something.

Happy smiled as he turned and walked away. Toby stepped up and put his arm around her as she watched him walk away. "I could almost get use to having those three in our lives," she said softly.

Toby grinned, "Not me, you and Cabe scare me enough, not to mention Paige on occasion." They turned and got into Cabe's SUV and headed to a medcheck.

Thanks to Cabe's Homeland badge Toby got the X-ray of Happy's hand quickly and set it and put it in a cast before they headed for the Garage.

They walked into the Garage to find Sasha imitating the dance Happy was doing to her music video laughing and giggling. Allie pointed towards the door, "Sasha, look over there."

Sasha squealed in excitement and ran as fast as she could to be scooped up off the floor and hugged tightly by Happy.

"Mom, Dad, you're still here? Is everything okay?" Walter asked.

"Welcome back son," Sean greeted Walter and then Paige.

"Everything is fine dear, your father was kind enough to change our plans to wait for you and we can travel back home together as a family." Louise told him as she hugged him.

Allie hugged Cabe fiercely, "Welcome home."

"It's good to be home," he hugged her back.

"What would you say if I told you I was going to go with you to Ireland?" Allie asked.

Cabe looked shocked, "I'd say awesome."

"When Sean went to change their flight the representative thought he was calling to check in by phone and told them the flight was over booked. As part of the compensation they gave him four free tickets and they offered me one to come with you guys. I figured that was a sign and called and took some time off to go." Allie told him.

"Allie Jones, you're out of this world," he told her as he kissed her.

"Toby, Happy," Sean called out to them, "if you are of a mind, I've got three tickets to Ireland if you like to come with us Friday?"

Toby looked at Happy and she smiled and then looked at Sasha, "Would they let us take Sasha out of the country? How would we get a passport for her?"

Toby cleared his throat, "Oh Pappy Cabe, can you help us out?"

Cabe laughed as he reached into his pocket for his phone.

Walter looked at his Mom, "Have you figured out where everyone is going to sleep?"

Louise laughed, "I'm sure we'll find a spot for everyone," as she put her arm around Paige. "Have I mentioned what a wonderful job you have done helping Walter? A mother probably worries more for her son finding a good wife, than worries about her daughter finding a good husband. I'm sure a father worries more about his daughter then his son. I couldn't ask for a better daughter."

Paige's eyes teared, "Thanks Mom," she said as she hugged her.

**Probably a short chapter tomorrow to finish what happens here. I'll probably take a few days to think about things. Thank you for reading! - Tim**


	8. Chapter 8

"Look, I told you I don't care if they are being kept in Pelican Bay Prison. I'm paying you to get in there and eliminate them. When you're done with that, I'll have some more targets for you. What? Yes, the money has already been wired to your account, now I want the job done tonight."

Evan Wilcox hung up his sat phone and then slammed it against the desk. Emery was a liability, along with Scot Russell, they could both collaborate with the prosecutor and he could end up in prison for the rest of his life.

'Damn it, I had this planned so well. How did it go off the rails?' He thought as he watched the sun set over the Pacific.

"Sounds like your call didn't go quite as you planned," Rusty spoke up, scaring Wilcox instantly.

"Who the hell are you and how did you get in here?" Wilcox demanded.

Rusty slowly walked up to his desk, "Who am I? I'm one of the guys you tried to have killed. To be honest, that comes with the territory, but then, you also tried to have some of my oldest friends killed, that really ticks me off. But you know what is worse? You tried to set those sweet kids up for treason when they are just trying to do good in this world. And for what, so you could make more money?"

Wilcox hit his panic button under his desktop.

Rusty smiled, "Oh, don't worry, we'll not be interrupted, my friends are controlling your security system. As far as your guards are concerned, you are safe and snug up here in your office."

Wilcox became very nervous, "Look, I've got money, lots of money. I can make you a very wealthy man."

Rusty sat on the corner of the desk, "You know the thing about men like me? We're a puzzle to boys like you. You think you can just flash some cash and everyone will just bend over and kiss your arse." Rusty picked up a pen off his desk and looked at it. "Thing is, if I wanted to be rich, I'd already be rich and living the high life in Mexico or some other warm or exotic locale. I do what I do because I believe in this Country, what it's supposed to stand for. And I do it to protect its citizens like those sweet kids on Scorpion."

Thursday morning, Scorpion had assembled to go through all of Centipede Partner's and Scorpion's cases before their vacation to Ireland tomorrow. Paige was talking to the last CP client advising them that they were reforming as Scorpion but that all jobs would be honored as contracted but just as Scorpion.

"Morning gang, hey Happy, Toby, Katharine got the adoption people to give you a waiver to take Sasha with us to Ireland and I got her a passport here too." Cabe announced as he entered the Garage.

Sasha heard Cabe's voice and came running from the kitchen, "Pappy! Pappy!"

Cabe smiled and knelt down and hugged her tightly and stood up with her in his arms, "How's my girl?" He asked.

Sasha smiled and kissed his cheek, "Happy," she said simply.

Happy walked up and kissed his cheek too, "Thanks Roomie, for everything."

"Anytime kiddo," he smiled at her and passed her the forms and passport as they turned and walked back to the kitchen.

Paige joined them a few minutes later, "Okay, that was the last call, for the most part everyone was pleased and accepting of the change, I had one who wanted to act like it was some kind of imposition and wanted to renegotiate the fees."

"How did you respond to that," Sly asked.

Paige smiled, "I told him he was free to make use of clause I and walk away and contract someone else to handle it."

"And did he," Happy asked.

"Of course not, he might be a tightwad but he isn't stupid." Paige laughed.

Toby yelled, "Hey guys, come check this out." He unmuted the TV and turned the volume up, as everyone came out of the kitchen.

"In breaking news on CBS Los Angeles, thanks to an anonymous tip FBI working with authorities at Pelican Bay Prison was able to capture a man accused of attempting to assassinate two men, one man, Army Major Charles Emery died of wounds inflicted by the assassin but the other man a Scott Russell was unharmed. Both men are accused as part of a treason plot to steal technology being developed for the US Government."

"CBS Los Angeles has learned that the FBI was informed by the assassin that he was hired by none other than Evan Wilcox, President of Wernier Ltd. When the FBI arrived at Wernier Headquarters this morning they found Wilcox dead by apparent suicide. We will continue to follow this story and will report back when new information is available."

They all kind of looked at each other. "I don't like being the first to say this, as I am sure I'm not the only one thinking this, but you don't suppose your friend Rusty or the others had anything to do with this do you?" Toby asked Cabe.

Everyone just kind of stared at Toby, "Seriously? I'm the only one who thinks this is something Rusty might do?" He grabs his right shoulder and cries "Ow."

Cabe nodded his head, "Well, it's certainly within Rusty's skill set, that's for sure."

The Garage door opened and several men in FBI blazers entered. "Agent Gallo, Team Scorpion, Special Agent Ryan Biggs FBI. My superiors wanted me to advise you guys of some information we gathered. Prior to his suicide Evan Wilcox put out a hit on Charles Emery and a Scott Russell, we also believe he had intended to put one out on all of you but hadn't before his death. My bosses just wanted you to know that we will be checking for any information that could prove otherwise."

Cabe stepped forward, "Thank you Special Agent Biggs, we appreciate the heads up. We're actually going to be out of country on vacation for a week or so."

Biggs nodded his head, "I'll inform my bosses, they might want us to keep an eye on your offices while you're gone to be safe. Have a good day and a nice vacation guys." Biggs and his men left the Garage.

Walter looked at Sylvester, "Sly I would like for you to write code to scan the dark web, see if it can give us a heads up if any information passes that indicates that a hit was actually contracted for us."

Sly nodded his head and moved over to his desk. "I'm sure Katharine might already have been advised as to what is going on but to be safe, I'm going to give her a call." Cabe said as he pulled out his phone and walked over to Happy's area.

Happy was showing Sasha her passport, "Just think, tomorrow you are going with us on a plane ride, you'll get to see what the Country looks like from high up in the sky."

Sasha smiled and hugged Happy tightly.

**First a big thank you to my wife, our 28th anniversary today (9-7). It's been a pleasure writing about Scorpion I hope to have something else to write about them in the near future!**


End file.
